A “significant increase” in criminal activity largely by transients is forcing one Colorado Springs pre-kindergarten-12 campus to take what it’s calling expensive action.

A rise in vandalism, theft of items from storage sheds, open drug use and school buses being broken into and trashed with garbage, spent needles, liquor bottles and cigarette butts prompted Colorado Early Colleges in Colorado Springs to seek approval to install a 7-foot-high fence around its 5.3-acre campus at 4435 N. Chestnut St.

“We’ve had such terrible issues with people wandering onto the site — we’ve had sexual activity in broad daylight. Last year, a guy was walking behind the schools with an ax. We’ve had fires in trash cans, and public urination and defecation have been routinely observed,” said Pete Griggs, site facilities manager for the local branch.

Homeless people have cut openings in the chain-link fence that forms a partial border, camped overnight on school property, and entered school buildings, he said.

“We want a little extra security for the kids and the staff,” Griggs said. “They deserve to go to school and have a safe environment, so we’re doing what we can.”

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The school already has spent more than $600,000 on other upgrades, he said, including adding two school monitors who patrol the grounds on electric carts, a new security camera system, radio communication for staff, protective film on exterior windows and doors, and an improved card-reader system for building entry.

The school began working with the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department in June on the proposed high-end decorative security fence and gate that will cost about $500,000 to install.

Officials had hoped to start construction in midsummer, but meeting regulations and code requirements have taken more time than expected, Griggs said, and the school is still working through the process.

“We are hopeful construction will begin in November,” he said. “Every day without this fence puts our students and staff at risk.”

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Opening in 2007, the Colorado Springs location was the inaugural school of what has grown into the large Colorado Early Colleges public charter school network, which focuses on helping students earn associate and bachelor’s degrees as they complete high school.

The system has multiple locations of schools and programs in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Douglas County, Aurora, Windsor, Westminster, Centennial and Northglenn.

Colorado Early Colleges moved into the Springs Business Park 14 years ago and remodeled offices into its local campus. Today, the property has more than 800 students in middle school, high school, a home-school program and a day care center.

Problems with transients have worsened in recent years, Griggs said.

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The land backs the Douglas Creek drainage canal, which seems to draw “mountainous amounts of trash” from up to 20 people illegally camping in the area and setting campfires, he said. Griggs said he’s had to call the Fire Department five times in the past few years to extinguish out-of-control blazes.

“The city comes in and cleans it up, but the second they’re gone, the homeless come right back in,” he said.

He also repainted canal walls to cover obscene graffiti, which is visible from some of the school’s three buildings.

“I’m extremely sympathetic to the homeless — I could be there someday, we all could be there,” he said. “But this has personally chipped away at me and made me a coarser person. It’s frustrating. I see the beauty of our town disintegrating into trash and public fighting, and we’re just trying to look out for kids here.”

Similar issues with vagrants led Pikes Peak Library District to plan to build a fence with gates around the perimeter of Penrose Library, the downtown branch. Construction on that fence, which also will be 7 feet tall and encompass the entire library campus, is expected to begin in January, officials said.

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